PUTRAJAYA: The Court of Appeal commuted the death sentence imposed on a Rohingya refugee to 30 years’ imprisonment and 24 strokes of the cane for two drug trafficking charges.
A three-man bench comprising Justices Datuk Azman Abdullah, Datuk Mohd Radzi Abdul Hamid and Datuk Meor Hashimi Abdul Hamid on Thursday (June 25), set aside the death sentence imposed on Khafai Tullah Nabi Hussein and substituted it with 30 years’ imprisonment for each charge.
The court ordered all sentences to run concurrently, including the 10-year jail term for the third charge of possessing 37.2g of methamphetamine.
On top of the prison terms, the court imposed 24 strokes of the cane for the two trafficking charges and an additional 12 strokes for the possession charge.
However, Justice Azman, in delivering the court's unanimous ruling, clarified that the total strokes actually carried out shall not exceed 24.
Section 288 of the Criminal Procedure Code stipulates that the statutory maximum of 24 strokes of the cane applies even where an offender's combined sentence exceeds that limit.
The panel dismissed Khafai Tullah's appeal against his conviction on two charges of trafficking in 808.6g of heroin and 354.8g of monoacetylmorphine. He did not appeal against his conviction and sentence for the third charge.
Justice Azman said Khafai Tullah's defence, that a man named Mani had access to the house where the drugs were found, was an afterthought.
He added that the discovery of drugs on the appellant, combined with his attempt to flee and the fact that he was alone in the house, established his custody and control over the drugs.
On Sept 19, 2024, the High Court found Khafai Tullah, a UNHCR cardholder, guilty on all three charges.
He was sentenced to death for the drug trafficking charges and to 10 years' imprisonment with 12 strokes of the cane for the third charge.
The offences were committed at a house in Kampung Baru Thye Eng, Bedong, in the Kuala Muda district of Kedah, at approximately 6.10pm on Feb 14, 2019.
In his defence, Khafai Tullah, 36, claimed that a man named Mani had given him a packet of powder, saying it was Ajinomoto seasoning.
At Thursday’s proceedings, Deputy Public Prosecutor Ahmad Nazneen Zulkifli appeared for the prosecution, while lawyer Mohammad Yunus Mohd @ Ahmad Ali represented the appellant.- Bernama
